Category Archives: Breakfast/Brunch

This recipe is a gift from Michelle to the South Arm Older Adults Cooking Club. It is her mom’s recipe and it’s her family tradition to make this Baked Apple Pancake on Christmas morning while the kids are busy opening their gifts.

You can reduce the butter to 1/4 cup but it does change the consistency of the pancake slightly.

Pizza is ideal for lunch box as it is flexible in the combination of vegetables and meat that you know your kids will like. In order to make a healthier version, try to use whole grain pizza crust. You may even substitute the pizza crust with Indian naan bread like this Naan Pizza or with Italian focaccia bread or ciabatta buns.

We made the pizza with two types of crust, i.e one with a regular pizza crust and another with focaccia bread. The focaccia has more flavour to it but then the pizza crust is more crispy.

Have you wonder how the pocket in a pita is created? The pocket is created by steam which puffs up the dough and as the bread cools and deflated, a pocket is left in the center. Pita pocket is such a convenient container for all sorts of fillings. I love Peanut Butter Pita Bread which has the creaminess from the peanut butter and crunchiness from the frosted cornflakes which I created in the early days of chowtimes.

Here is a another simple Tuna Pocket recipe that kids will enjoy and is ok for school lunch box as many schools are peanut free zone nowadays.

Tuna and grape goes well in this simple Tuna Pocket recipe. The coleslaw and lettuce adds crunch to it and made this a complete meal with carbohydrate, protein, fiber and vitamins.

This Easy Granola Bars are fantastic and have a lot of flexibility. You can adapt the recipe to your liking. They are great for hikes, long road trips and camping as they store well and keep for fairly long time. You may adapt any combination of chocolate chips, dried fruit, coconut, pecans, almond slices, or any other tidbits you like in this granola bar.

This Easy Granola Bars are loaded with carbohydrates from with oats, protein from the nuts and vitamins from the dried fruit. They are also rich in fiber. They make a great on the go breakfast for busy people.

Getting kids into the kitchen to prepare a weekend breakfast is perfect time for sharing quality time. Age-appropriate tasks not only help divide the workload in the kitchen but also give kids a chance to take pride in their accomplishments. Kids often enjoy the food more if they are involved in the making of it. Working side by side lets adults keep a watchful eye without hovering.

Below are samples of age-appropriate tasks that kids can involve in making a healthy breakfast:

Young hands:

placing cut fruits into juicer for juicing fruit

setting the table

flaking fish for Smoked Fish Hash

pressing blender buttons

whisking eggs together for scrambled eggs

School-age:

measuring ingredients

cracking eggs into a small bowl before adding in case some shells slip in

whisking, stirring, mixing, folding

mashing butter for Baked Stuffed Tomatoes and stuffing them

Teenagers:

cooking with some minor assistance with a nearby adult at hand for support and to answer any questions

This easy side dish makes a nice addition to many breakfasts, such as scrambled eggs and Smoke Fish Hash. If you like, use small tomatoes cut in half.

The Richmond News came to the Gilmore United Church a few weeks ago to interview the Richmond Community Kitchen for their newly launched community guide. That community guide is called Welcome to Richmond. In their first edition of December 2009, they choose to highlight the Richmond Community Kitchen for their cover story! We were all so excited.

In the cover story, the monthly community guide talked about the role of the RCK in supporting the diverse multi-cultural community that you find in Richmond. We felt that food and cooking is one element that brings people from various culture together. Being a SAHM, I personally had formed lasting friendships through the RCK. I encourage those of you who lives in Richmond to come join us to learn about food and of each others culture.

There are a total of six community kitchens in Richmond. So there is at least one near where you stay if you live in Richmond.

On that day of the interview, we did a series of recipes for breakfast and brunch. While the interview was done at the Gilmore Church, this series is documented with the South Arm Community Kitchen. We do sometimes rotate the same recipes with several kitchens.

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As requested by some members of the cooking club to do a session on breakfast and brunch item, Minoo came up with four very nutritious recipes to share. Minoo also shared some important breakfast basics with the members. We all know that breakfast is the most important meal of the day. A healthy morning meal will fuel the kids up in time for school or a day of play at the child care. We simply need to refuel our body in the morning after going without food for 8 to 12 hours during sleep. That’s why the morning meal is called break fast. Skipping breakfast can made kids feel tired, restless and irritable, moody and lack of energy.

Breakfast also can help keep kids’ weight in check. It kick-starts the body’s metabolism, the process which converts fuel in food to energy which starts the burning of calories. People who skips breakfast is likely to get famished before lunchtime and snack on high-calorie foods or overeat at lunch which cause overweight issue.

Choosing breakfast foods that are rich in whole grains, fiber, and protein while low in added sugar may boost kids attention span, concentration, and memory. Breakfast that boosts brain power is what kids need to improve their learning in school.

With all the benefits of a good breakfast in mind, here is the first breakfast/brunch recipe.

This Smoked Fish Hash has a smoky flavour that kids will love. It is simple and straight forward diner classic. When top with some eggs and Baked Stuffed Tomatoes, it makes a hearty breakfast.

For a variation, you may make a Corned Beef Hash by substituting the smoked fish with corned beef, diced and omitting the rinsing and poaching process.